


Summertime Escapade

by elanor_BleuNoir



Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Post-Canon, Romance, yes the coin appears again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:14:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25911931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elanor_BleuNoir/pseuds/elanor_BleuNoir
Summary: "Run away with me, King of Figaro."
Relationships: Edgar Roni Figaro/Setzer Gabbiani
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	Summertime Escapade

**Author's Note:**

> So basically me today having both the thought, "what if Edgar and Setzer have this one fling during their journey and never talk about it again?" and the thought, "what if Edgar's ministers persuade him to get married after the world is restored?" (I mean, as a king (and known womanizer), he has to go through this, right?) Thus the story is born.  
> Of course there is always so much potential angst and drama between these two given how different (yet at the same time similar) these two are, and the symbolism of Figaro Castle v. the Falcon has been discussed too many times not put it in a written romance. And the coin. We love to see the coin so it has to appear.  
> There is still so much to explore between the two regarding their chemistry! If there might be others interested, I would love to write a longer something for these two.
> 
> ~ AND ~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY EDGAR!!

"Hey, King of Figaro. Run away with me."

In the very much cooled-down winds of this summer night, amidst the almost blinding veil of sand blown up in the desert, Edgar Figaro raised his head. Upon the deck of the airship stood that familiar yet long-lost lean silhouette; he met its owner's eyes. Those purple eyes carried a tint of a smile, yet something unreadable flowed beneath their facade.

"Come on. Wouldn't you want to run away, just for tonight?"

*

Edgar never thought he would see Setzer again.

Just a year or so ago they fled from Kefka's tumbling tower of ruin, each fulfilled his destiny of saving the world. Setzer flew everyone where they belonged, with the last stop being Figaro Castle. Sabin was humming some distant tune when he descended the airship, meeting cheers from crowds beneath already waiting for the glorious return, while Edgar turned back for one last time, suddenly finding the sight of Setzer, standing alone in the now empty gallery, disturbingly desolate.

"Fare thee well, Your Majesty."

Still the elegant and over-the-top dramatic bow; still the flawless faint smile. For a moment, Edgar had the impulse of approaching the other man, of tearing that pale ghost of a complexion apart along every single scar it bears, to see whether or not it was just a mask Setzer put on, whether there really was another set of fine, true flesh and skin beneath. Then he suddenly realized that he himself had been wearing a similar mask all along.

"Will we meet again?" He asked tentatively, cautiously stepping on the boundaries of what his own mask allowed.

"Who knows." Setzer shrugged, turning his face to the side porthole. White clouds floated above the newly-restored, awakening continent. "The Falcon has fulfilled one duty; it's time to turn to its last unfulfilled one. Let's see how high it can fly... As well as many other answers I have yet to find."

"Understood." Edgar nodded. "Then... I hope you will have had all your wanted answers next time we meet, if there is a next time."

"Or you can rather say hope we will both have all our wanted answers next time we meet." Setzer smiled lazily.

There was no hug, no tears. They left each other with two single nods, as if they were but two strangers who happened to travel together for a while.

Strangers who, perhaps, had already forgotten what happened that one night months ago in the town of Jidoor.

It was known that, even in the World of Ruin, Jidoor had the best wine in the world.

It was perhaps partially because of this that even the King of Figaro, always picky about his alcohol, got unprecedentedly intoxicated here.

Under the dim lights of the pub was the almost empty bottle, the half-full glass of dark red liquid yet to be drunk, and the fully flushed blond man leaning on the bar table with his eyes closed. Setzer sighed. He took the half glass of wine from in front of Edgar, drinking it up himself.

"Cheater." He had no idea when the young king opened his eyes. Sky-blue eyes met his, carrying an unusual sparkle especially apparent on the flushed face. For a moment, even the seasoned gambler who thought he by that point would have a heart of stone found himself flustered for no good reason. "You... sneaked my drink away."

"C'mon, we're not even having a drinking contest, let alone cheating." Setzer coughed quite awkwardly, turning his face so he evaded Edgar's overtly inviting gaze. "You're having too much to drink."

He then paused for a moment, and - maybe, with alcohol as a catalyst - sighed and added, "If you've got anything on your mind... You can always feel free to vent to me, you know."

Edgar blinked dreamily, then frowned as if he heard something he did not want to hear. When he spoke again, he seemed not to be responding to Setzer's previous comment. "Killjoy. I'll drink yours if you drink mine."

Then he reached for the whiskey left in the glass in front of Setzer.

"Stop, Edgar - dammit..." Setzer never thought that he, the expected alcoholic between the two, would have a day to stop others from reaching for a glass of alcohol. Yet he really did not want to be the one dragging an unconscious king heavier than himself back to the inn. He attempted to grab Edgar's arm, but still did not promptly stop the other man's hand from precisely capturing his glass. He saw Edgar's fingers wrap around its body, pulling it closer to his lips - in a moment of mixed impulse and inspiration, he then did something he would never expect:

He leaned in, sealing Edgar's lips with his own before the glass's rim could reach them.

The softness sent a sudden jolt down his chest, made him suddenly clear-headed and instinctively want to draw back. Yet the King of Figaro did not push him away. To put it more exactly, he not only did not push him away but also flirtatiously wrapped an arm around his neck. Setzer heard the whiskey glass land on the wooden table with a fairly heavy sound, then felt another hand traveling through his hair. If he had had hesitations before this point, he then gave them all up.

He held Edgar in his arms. Between the kisses that tasted like whiskey and wine he heard the other man's chuckles, and saw the king close his eyes. He reached for Edgar's carefully braided hair, stroking it, loosening a blue ribbon tying the end together. The king's blond hair came undone behind his back, and in this deep Jidoorian night, in this unnoticed corner of this unnoticed pub, the gambler's mind, already blank, had but one thought:

_Such fucking pretty blond hair._

*

When they fled from Kefka's tower, Setzer once thought he would lose Edgar for good.

He saw the metal ruins fall above the strikingly beautiful blond hair, almost having no time to yell out "Danger!" before they crashed. He covered his face, not looking toward that direction as he heard the crashing sound and got his vision blurred by flying dust, until he heard Sabin's voice after all the dust had cleared. He raised his head and saw the muscular man catching one end of the piece of metal just inches above his older brother's head.

"My brother holds this country up, so I'll just hold my brother up." He heard Sabin say.

That moment, he felt that he figured out a lot of things that lingered on his mind.

That's right. Edgar had people who held him up. He had his castle, his country, his shield, the throne rooted so deeply in the desert with all the ties to his last name, a weight only pulled by gravity, never able to be carried by light wings that took flight in the sky.

As for himself - who did he ever manage to protect?

Darill never returned to the top of the hill he waited upon, and he never got a chance to catch the weight that fell on Edgar's head. Whether they were irreplaceable friends of a lifetime or almost-lovers never to be, they eventually would leave him, pulled down by gravity, leaving the sky they once soared together in.

Yet he could not land. He could only stay in the sky, attempting to fly higher, and even higher, until stars shone closer than any castle in the world.

And how would Edgar not know that the city that only travels underground can never tie an airship's carefree wings?

After he bid Setzer well, he would sometimes connect with his old travel companions, but spent most of his time rebuilding his own country. There was so much destroyed by the fires of war and the world of ruin, and whether it was when he faced Kefka for the last time or now, he had never changed his one firm goal: he lives to build a well-tended country. Edgar Figaro is a Figaro, and for that sole reason he had already given up so much of himself as a person for himself as a king. If he had moments when he went off the track during the journey, they eventually all had to be forgotten.

Luckily Sabin would always be there, even if he still chose to not sit in the throne next to his and to instead travel in the world with his martial skills.

There was a rumor going around among the people of Figaro: their king, having returned from his journey to save the world, remained his old self and habitually joked with every lady he encountered, yet still had not decided to find himself a queen. He was approaching thirty, and his ministers had already planned to find him a suitable queen - for the throne would need to have an heir, after all, and it wouldn't be a hard task as there was no lack of either noble ladies with powerful families in this country or princesses from other lands who were willing to marry the young, well-accomplished and handsome king.

There were also rumors saying the ministers called an emergency meeting and forced the king to attend, while the king's younger brother argued how no queen was needed at the moment, but got refuted by all.

No one seemed to care what the king himself was thinking. But perhaps, compared to what benefited the country, the king's own thoughts had no say.

It became almost certain that the King of Figaro would get married. Such big news was rare in the now peaceful world, therefore quickly traveled to every corner of the world. All of the king's old companions wrote to him, recommending people or giving advice - except for one.

That one person drove an airship into the night and landed above the deserts around Figaro Castle, next to the king's balcony.

 _Run away with me_ , he said to the king who had not seen or heard from him for over a year.

Edgar stared at Setzer, standing on the deck of the airship floating outside his window, and stared into the depths of those violet eyes. The night was deep and tender, and for some reason reminded him of the Jidoorian night already blurred in his memory, the night dyed everywhere by the color of wine.

"Sure." He heard himself say.

*

The airship flew against the wind as mountains, deserts and plains grew smaller under their feet. Setzer held the rudder, speeding up: they had almost reached the edge of the ocean.

"Have you found them?" Edgar abruptly asked. "Your answers."

Setzer grinned. "Would you like to take a look? What the Falcon can do now."

Without waiting for Edgar's answer, he pulled something next to the control panel, and the airship climbed steeply into the clouds, through the clouds, over the clouds, until clouds covered the ocean, until the land beneath had completely gone out of view, until nothing but skies above remained in sight.

"It's quite cold out here." Setzer turned, reaching for a thick coat he left on the deck, then wrapping it around Edgar's shoulders. Edgar took a deep breath: it was indeed cold here, almost as freezing as the highest point of Narshe's snowy plateau. But there were no towns or snowy grounds above the clouds, only the boundless curtain of night and the countless stars that adorned it. He suddenly felt something stir in his chest, something like loneliness but not quite.

Something that might be defined as... some sort of a longing.

"I did it." He heard Setzer whisper. "I let her fly to the highest point in this world, closer to the stars and the sun than any mountain, any cloud."

Edgar suddenly had an urge to shed tears. But he held them in.

"Congratulations." He only said.

"But it's always too cold above the clouds... You may not believe this, but I understood that I cannot live above the clouds. I prefer where I can see people."

Edgar nodded. "Me too." He walked to Setzer's side, and watched the layers of cloud approach the airship's bottom - he did not know when it started, but the Falcon had already slowly started to descend, as he can already see the lights on South Figaro shores beneath thinning clouds.

"Setzer?"

"Yes?"

"Pause the airship for a moment, just here."

"...Fine."

"Look closely this time." Edgar pressed his hands on the other man's shoulders, gazing at his face, his lips, his scars bathing in the pale starlight. Looking straight into his eyes. "I'm not drunk this time, and I hope you remember this well."

Then, like in that night many days and months ago, he kissed Setzer.

Except he started it this time.

"I missed you."

There were always flocks of birds flying above the deserts of Figaro. Sometimes, when the wind was strong, the birds would fly through the veils of sand everywhere in the air. This maybe would make one thing that even light winds and heavy sands would have a possibility of meeting each other.

The King of Figaro announced something important before his thirtieth birthday: he would not marry.

He understood the benefits of a political marriage, the king stated, but compared to the power brought about by any political marriage, he trusted his own power and faith to rebuild this country. And, because of that, he would not want this country to be interfered by any foreign power when he stays on the throne; his younger brother would marry and have a family out of his free will, and any heir he would have would be seen as the country's heir. Thus the king spoke, facing all the questioning and admiring gazes of his countrymen.

There were of course rumors. Rumors of how King Edgar, being the playboy he was, would never want to be held down by the bonds of marriage; of how he had already negotiated with his brother regarding the country's heir and made his compromise; or, of how he refused to marry, simply because he had someone on his mind he could never be with.

As for whether he really had someone on his mind, or whether he really had a possibility of ending up with that someone, those were things that only the birds and sand in the desert would know.

Meanwhile, in one corner of the town of South Figaro once destroyed by the Empire, a casino was built. It was heard that the project was approved by the king himself, that the casino was designed and planned out by some well-known sir from the town of Jidoor that used to be the most splendid of all towns before the World of Ruin. The casino stood right next to the pub and flourished, receiving many guests including royal members at times.

As flourishing as the casino was the mechanical technology of Figaro. In the new world without magic, the king seemed to have devoted himself in the studying and developing of new machines, and even - on top of designing the castle that traveled underground - found a way to build airships, opening airship factories in the country that sent their products to around the world.

There were also soldiers in the castle who claimed that on fine days without that much work to do, an airship can be seen next to the balcony of King Edgar's study, where the king would then board the airship, soaring into the sky.

Only a few people who knew Edgar well would know that, compared to the old days, the king had shown many, many more moments of simple, genuine happiness.

*

"So I heard you're getting married?"

Towards the end of that night, when they stood side by side and watched the horizon across the sea already dyed rosy by the dawn, Setzer asked.

Edgar smiled sheepishly.

"I could just tell you the answer, but let's do this in the way we both enjoy."

Setzer frowned for a second, then immediately laughed.

"Absolutely." He said. "If it's heads, the King of Figaro might as well elope with me."

Edgar nodded, then took a weathered coin from his inside pocket.

His long fingers flipped; the coin shot into the air.

"I have to say this." Setzer murmured. "You are undeniably romantic in things like this."

For, before the coin landed, they had already both decided the story's ending in telepathy.

_This time, I won't flee._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please feel free to comment - I love comments of all sorts!  
> And feel free to share it elsewhere (like twitter/tumblr/pixiv) as long as the original link and my name are attached. I've no idea if there are still Edgar/Setzer fans out there, so the more the better.


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